Anything you can do to help people better understand your industry and the work you do will be extremely valuable to you.

2. Thought Leadership Posts.

A blog full of opinionated posts and Monday morning quarterbacking is not the way to go. However, taking a stand on an issue can help differentiate you from your competitors and others talking about the same topic.

In these posts, you can show how and why you approach things differently at your company. Or, you can call attention to problems in your industry and what you’re doing to help solve them.

These kinds of posts should be written somewhat sparingly, but they are an important component to successful blogging – especially if you want to position yourself as a thought leader and a go-to resource for your topic.

3. Humanizing Posts.

Because blogging can help readers better connect with you and your company, you should make a conscious effort to weave in some posts that help humanize your brand. You could either dedicate content around this idea or make sure to weave storytelling and personality into everything you do.

There are so many ways you could do this. Here are just a few ideas:

Create regular videos to introduce key members of your team.

Show photos of your employees having fun together – at events or on a day-to-day basis.

You could share the community involvement of your staff member or encourage people to join in your company’s fundraising efforts.

Tell a story of someone who was impacted by the work you do.

Don’t be afraid to let your hair down and let your true colors, or “killer swag” shine through. Doing this will help people get to know you better and make them much more likely to want to work with you.

4. Buying Decision Posts.

Because your blog is supposed to help you drive leads and business, you need to also write content that will help readers make the decision to buy. For example, comparing your services with that of a competitor can help readers make an educated decision about the work you do. Or, you could write about when it makes sense to look for a solution.

For instance, I wrote about when it makes sense to outsource your social media efforts. This is an example of helping people better understand why and how to hire someone. This helps educate people during the buying process.

Another way to do this is to talk about pricing. People are searching for this information and if you can be the one to provide it, they will be more likely to buy from you. Not to mention, this could decrease the sales cycle by weeding out unqualified leads.

5. Case Studies and Examples.

One of the best way you can sell the work you do is by showcasing the results you’re able to help generate for others. Case studies are a great way to do just that.

This is a great way to sell your services by letting someone else to the talking.

And, if you’re unable to get case studies and client stories (or you’re unable to do so for compliance reasons), you could always showcase examples of other people or businesses that are doing things right. People love to see how ideas or theories can be put to work and showing how others are applying those ideas can be super powerful – even if they’re not your own clients.

You need balance

The best way to be successful with your blog is to integrate all of these types of blog posts into your writing. Not only with the varied types of blog content appeal to different audiences, but it will also help readers who are at different stages of the buying process.

If you focus on writing these kinds of posts on your blog, you’ll be sure to see the benefits of it.

Are you writing these kind of blog posts? Which ones do you still need to add to the mix?

What’s next?

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the next post in our Compelling Content series. We’ll be talking about how to use video in your content marketing efforts.

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About Laura Click

Laura Click is founder and CEO of Blue Kite Marketing, a Nashville-based integrated marketing firm. In addition to being the lead blogger on the Blue Kite blog, Laura is a proud Mizzou alum, avid runner and dog lover. You can connect with Laura on Twitter at @lauraclick, on LinkedIn or Google Plus.

Great post Laura. Just a question on Educational Content. Is there any value in writing a 5 Tips to Get Twitter Followers type of post if that same post and information has been written by every other marketer? Should I be writing it BECAUSE it has been written by every other marketer?

Is a post only educational if you are adding new information to the pool of knowledge? Does every educational post also need to be a thought leadership post?

Just some things that have been running though my head lately. What are your thoughts?

http://flybluekite.com/ Laura Click

Hi Rob – Great questions. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts.

In regards to educational content, I think it’s okay to write something even if it’s been said by others because chances are good that you’ll have your own unique twist or spin on the information. After all, YOUR audience may be hearing this information for the very first time. I wouldn’t, however, write something because everyone else is. Instead, I would look for ways you can make your version stand out or offer a different look at it.

As far as the pool of knowledge on a subject, it’s vast and very deep. Don’t psych yourself out about writing something that NO ONE has ever written about before. You would be hard-pressed to do that. Instead, focus on developing content that is going to be educational and valuable to YOUR people, YOUR target audience, YOUR tribe.

And no, not every post needs to be thought leadership. Those are opinionated posts or deep thinking posts that are intended to take a stand or advance a conversation. Sometimes, you can educate while doing that, but I would try to keep them separate. For instance, THIS was an educational post, but this one is more about thought leadership and opinion: http://flybluekite.com/2013/02/11/social-media-marketing-decline/

Make sense?

http://robskidmore.me/ Rob Skidmore

Laura you speak truth. That’s why I like you. Thanks for answering my questions. I was thinking along those lines.

I think part of my problem is that I come from the land of SEO where spin has a different meaning and “educational” articles are churned out non stop by underpaid writers hunched over ancient laptops in dark rooms. Thanks for setting me straight.

http://flybluekite.com/ Laura Click

Eeek! That sounds like the awful template guest post requests I get all of the time – “I’ll give you you very own, unique article for your site – and the best thing is that I won’t charge you a thing!”. Yuck.

What the world doesn’t need is the 1,000th version of the same article. Instead, be the 1st person to take the contrarian point of view.

If you are going to write article # 1,001 you’d better be damn sure that your version (as I acknowledge you wrote, Laura) stands out or offers a different look.

Damn sure.

http://www.craigmcbreen.com/ Craig McBreen

Hi Laura,

Great tips! Ya know, I’ve been doing quite a few of those humanizing posts, but more and more I’m trying to weave in detailed educational posts. There are many interesting posts with regard to this type of post and pillar content vs. 500-700 word posts. Regardless, it’s all about quality and those Edu posts do take some time to write.

Also, I think you know how I feel about taking a stand on an issue, so no, I’m never chickening out with my blog 😉

http://flybluekite.com/ Laura Click

Hi Craig – Yes, I DO know how you love to take a stand! You’re an excellent example of someone who shows personality in everything that you do. I love that.

I think adding in educational posts would be super powerful for you. I know you’ve already started doing that, but adding in more would be great. As far as length, I don’t think educational posts have to be epic, long content. Sometimes, that makes sense. But, I think you can still educate in 500 – 700 words. Not always, but length doesn’t always equal quality either. Just something to consider.